Creating value from waste nutrients by integrating algal and anaerobic digestion technology
This position is part of a larger contingent of new recruitments of 6 new staff members committed to research in research topics of projects in the BioRefine Cluster Europe
Introduction
Ghent University (Belgium) is internationally one of the leading institutes in resource recovery and renewable resources. It is home to the BioRefine Cluster Europe (www.biorefine.eu), a network of international research and development projects with dedicated focus of guiding innovation towards applied market implementation.
As part of an extensive European programme on the valorisation from waste nutrients by integrating algal and anaerobic digestion technology (Interreg NWE “ALG-AD”), we are recruiting a junior expert for a PhD degree at Ghent University (Belgium).
Research content
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is used to convert waste to biogas energy and a liquid nutrient rich digestate (NRD). Most NRD is returned to land as a biofertiliser. But, in the EU, strict limits are imposed with Nitrate Vulnerable Zones restricting return of NRD to land to prevent eutrophication pollution. This research focuses on combining algal and AD technology to reduce and reuse NRD by converting nutrients to create algal biomass for sustainable animal feeds. Technology will be implemented and tested in ‘real-life conditions’. The research topic is part of the broader concept of reusing waste to generate products for a sustainable economy, reducing pollution risk and dependence on imported material resources. Research will be conducted in a setting of transnational collaboration, including stays abroad.
Your profile
- You are interested in and motivated by the research topic, as well as in obtaining a PhD degree
- You have mastered the English language, both in writing skills and oral presentations
- You have the required communicative skills to interact independently with scientific community, business community and farming community
- You have a relevant degree – Master level in applied biological sciences (agriculture, environmental technology,…)
We offer
- Full-time employment for a period of 4 years
- Being embedded in a team of young dynamic experts from academia and industry
- Involvement in a European project (Interreg NWE “ALG-AD”) with research partners in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Belgium with possibility of mobility across partner countries to visit innovative nutrient recovery processes at practical industrial scale
- An innovative and hot-topic research scope with clear practical applications
- Close supervision and guidance in the conducting of the planned research
- The possibility to develop a broad network
- Stimulation to self-improvement by encouraging participation in courses, workshops and conferences
- Career option (to be discussed with the selected candidate based on mobility/travel interests and research opportunities) : for short or longer stays at Swansea University in the UK (lead partner of the ALG-AD project) and the possibility to obtain Dual Degree PhD from both institutes as a result of such an exchange.
How to apply
Send (I) CV and (II) motivation letter to: eva.clymans@ugent.be before January, 26nd 17h (Central European Time) (put „ALG-AD PhD“ in the email title). Selected candidates will be invited for an interview in the first two weeks of February.
